Lancet neurology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Association between brain imaging signs, early and late outcomes, and response to intravenous alteplase after acute ischaemic stroke in the third International Stroke Trial (IST-3): secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial.
Brain scans are essential to exclude haemorrhage in patients with suspected acute ischaemic stroke before treatment with alteplase. However, patients with early ischaemic signs could be at increased risk of haemorrhage after alteplase treatment, and little information is available about whether pre-existing structural signs, which are common in older patients, affect response to alteplase. We aimed to investigate the association between imaging signs on brain CT and outcomes after alteplase. ⋯ UK Medical Research Council, Health Foundation UK, Stroke Association UK, Chest Heart Stroke Scotland, Scottish Funding Council SINAPSE Collaboration, and multiple governmental and philanthropic national funders.
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Concussion and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) are interchangeable terms to describe a common disorder with substantial effects on public health. Advances in brain imaging, non-imaging biomarkers, and neuropathology during the past 15 years have required researchers, clinicians, and policy makers to revise their views about mild TBI as a fully reversible insult that can be repeated without consequences. These advances have led to guidelines on management of mild TBI in civilians, military personnel, and athletes, but their widespread dissemination to clinical management in emergency departments and community-based health care is still needed. The absence of unity on the definition of mild TBI, the scarcity of prospective data concerning the long-term effects of repeated mild TBI and subconcussive impacts, and the need to further develop evidence-based interventions to mitigate the long-term sequelae are areas for future research that will improve outcomes, reduce morbidity and costs, and alleviate delayed consequences that have only recently come to light.